MAKING A STATEMENT

I have been talking with a lot of churches about doing comedy outreach events and most of them are curious to know "what I believe" which is great. I don't mind the question, 

I decided to take the initiative and just sort of put it out here on the internet. Some corporation and community groups may disagree with me, that is okay. Some churches may disagree, alright and still others who know me may look at these words and say I am a hypocrite. No big deal, I know I am in good company...and so are they. 

What I Believe

THE ONE AND ONLY

God is one and He exists as three equal persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. God has been around since before the earth and He created everything...except cats which I think we can all agree are of the Debil. There has not been and will not be a time when He does not exist. He takes an active role in my day to day life and when He made you, me and everybody in between and before and after us He made us in HIS image. We are valuable to Him, He LOVES us and everyday He makes effort to show us how much He loves us and desires us to have a willing relationship with Him.
(Genesis 1:26; Exodus 6:7; Matthew 3:16-17; John 3:16; Acts 17:24-30; Romans 1:20; 2 Peter 3:9)

TRUTH? CAN YOU HANDLE THE TRUTH?

The Bible is the source of truth. It explains to each of us in great detail the beginnings and purpose of humanity. It explains to us who God is. The Bible tells us what God has done for us and reveals to us the standards God has. In other words, when we die we're going to face judgment. The Bible gives us the information we need to have a clear understanding to live a life that is pleasing to God. I believe the Bible was written by men who were under the influence of God. I believe that the Bible is accurate and can be trusted in every matter of life.

Strangely the Bible has done nothing to curb the overuse of hair spray and makeup by televangelists.
( 2 Timothy 3:16; 2 Peter 1:20-21; 1 Peter 1:24-25; Isaiah 40:8)

RELEVANT

People often question if the Bible is relevant...it is! The Bible is as relevant today as it was when it first rolled off the presses...okay, it didn't roll off the presses but when God was speaking to the writers of the Bible it was NEED TO KNOW INFO. It is still that way today.
( Hebrews 4:12; Psalm 19:8; Psalm 119:105; 2 Timothy 3:16)

ONLY Son, ONLY way to heaven

Pretty limiting, huh?  Well, sorry I believe that Jesus Christ is God's only Son who was physically born as human being while remaining fully God. Because He was both fully God and fully human, His death was able to make the perfect and only payment for all of our sins. Yes, that includes my considerable contributions in that area.
( John 14:6; Romans 3:21-25; John 11:25-26 ; Acts 4:12; 1 Corinthians 15:51-57)

Bible ENTIRELY TRUE

Born from a virgins womb?  Walked on water? Brought Lazarus out of a tomb? Rose from the dead? Jesus is God? Yep, it's true! 

Jesus Christ was conceived and born of a virgin through the power of God's Spirit, that He lived a sinless life, that He physically died on a cross, that He rose from the dead, and that He currently sits at the right hand of God. He did all of this because He loves us.
( Isaiah 7:14; Matthew 1:22-23; Luke 1:34-35; Luke 22:70; Hebrews 4:15; 1 Peter 1:18-19; 1 Peter 3:18; Romans 5:6-8; 1 Corinthians 15:3-8; Matthew 28:1-7)

IMAGE is EVERYTHING to us SINNERS

See that lumpy looking guy in the demo video on the right side of this page?  He's a reflection of Christ. Made in the image of God...So are you. 

Problem is it got screwed up a long time ago when Adam and Eve just had to be "like" God. So they ate the apple. Is it Eves fault?  Nope. Well, not completely. The fall of humanity into sin was because of the temptation by the Debil. Both Adam and Eve experienced the same love and relationship from God and both made the independent decision to try and "be like God"...THANKS!  I probably would have done the same thing...you would too so get off your high horse and calm the heck down, God made a way for us to get to Him through Jesus. Without Jesus...things don't look so great, huh?
( Genesis 1:27; Genesis 2:7; Genesis 2:16-17; Ephesians 2:1; Romans 1:17-3:12; Romans 3:23)

WILL & GRACE through DECISION & FAITH

Here I am a total screw up and then God says I'm gonna make a way for you to come live with me...I believe that salvation is a free gift from God given to any person who puts their faith in Jesus Christ, accepting Him as Lord and Savior. This gift of salvation includes an immediate restoration of a person's relationship with God and, through yielding to the Holy Spirit, a lifetime of continuing transformation of that person's character into the character of Jesus Christ.

No groveling needed. No climbing any stairs to kiss a guys ring. No paying some flake on TV. No need to be polite, though manners are appreciated. No need to clean you act up before you accept God...He'll help you do that.
( Ephesians 2:8-10; Romans 3:21-22; Romans 10:9; Acts 16:30-31; Philippians 1:6; Romans 8:29)

MORE than BELIEVING

So what is faith?  A lot of folks think faith is just a checklist you agree with. That's probably where it starts but it's more than that spiritual handshake.

Biblical faith begins with a faith-decision to trust the sacrifice of Jesus Christ to be the final payment for your sin and to follow Him as the new leader of your life. Because of this trust and transformation Jesus influences the thoughts and actions of every believer and should therefore be evident in how we live.

CAUTION: this does not mean your works gain you great acceptance by God. It just means that when life unfolds in front of you God will be with you and His Spirit will influence your response.
( James 2:14-26; Matthew 7:21; Matthew 7:24-27; John 14:15)

God lives IN YOU

The Holy Spirit is the third, equal part of the Trinity (God the Father, Jesus the Son, and the Holy Spirit) who influences the lives of unbelievers and who comes to live within every Christian sort of like the movie Me, Myself and Irene. The Holy Spirit gives spiritual gifts to every believer so that the church might be built up and fully function as the Body of Christ. The Holy Spirit also influences the thoughts and actions of every believer for the purpose of increasing the Christ-like character of that believer. The Holy Spirit's presence in a Christian is the assurance of God's acceptance and of a place with God in eternity.
( John 14:16-17; John 16:7-9; Ephesians 1:13-14; Ephesians 5:18; 1 Corinthians 12:4-7)

LOCAL CHURCH

People who know me will do a double take on this one so MAKE SURE YOU READ THIS!!!  The church is the living, breathing body of Christ on this earth, whose purpose is to continue with the mission that Jesus had when He was here. I believe that all believers are meant to be an integral part of the local church where they will collectively use their God-given gifts to share the good news of Jesus Christ with the world around them and to grow together in community and character.

Okay...this should not be confused with a building. An establishment or just simply an activity.  This also requires relationships, relationships that allow each of us to be open, vulnerable and above all else accountable to one another for the encouragement of our spirit and the growth of our faith. Simply going to a building, hearing some guy or gal up front talk about "whatever" only to get to passing a plate with a quick exit prayer so you can beat the Baptists to the buffet does not count...it's service to one another and to God. 
( Ephesians 4:4; Hebrews 10:25; Acts 2:41-47; John 14:12; 1 Corinthians 12:27; Matthew 28:18-20; Matthew 16:18)

TADDDAAAAHHHHH

Oh yeah, I love the idea of the command performance in the NT. I believe that Jesus Christ will return to this earth. During this curtain call he will judge the world. He'll reward those who have put their faith in Him and to punish those who have continued to rebel against Him. A lot of people make a lot of money off of this story, make sure you don't get left behind...get it...anyway, the truth is that nobody knows the exact moment of his return.

Speaking of which, Crystal Lewis is one of my favorite singers and she sang a song called "You'll Be Back For Me" a few years ago...look it up on Amazon or some other place and buy it...it JAMS!!!
( 1 Thessalonians 5:1-3; Mark 13:32; Philippians 2:9-11; Titus 2:13)

SURPRISE IT'S NOT A SUBURB OF TOLEDO

I thought that I've lived through Hell on earth...it was a suburb of Toledo...JUST KIDDING! Really, though, Heaven and Hell are both real places for each of us to exist after their judgment. Every one of us will exist for eternity either in God's presence or separated from Him. We believe that the Biblical descriptions of Heaven and Hell are meant to give us a basic understanding of these places, but that each will be more wonderful and more awful that we can comprehend.
( Ecclesiastes 3:11; Acts 24:15; 2 Corinthians 5:10; Matthew 25:31-34,41,46; Revelation 21:3-5; Revelation 22:5; 2 Peter 2:13-17; 1 Corinthians 2:9; Revelation 14:9-12)